On one hand, consumers expect brands to maintain total privacy of their personal data. Yet, they also want to receive personalized marketing material tailored to their specific interests, which can only be achieved by having access to that personal data.

While many of us are aware of these platforms, too few of us understand the key differences between a DMP and a CDP. They may sound similar -- and they even share some common attributes -- but these systems vary in many ways.

Clearly, tech firms in the digital advertising space have been spooked. The murky nature of the segment has become problematic. Questions abound over the accuracy of the information provided by these sources, while abuse of third-party data has become common, with many marketers routinely violating consumers' privacy.

The nature of the esports audience makes it a market rife with potential for digital marketers. Too many of us hold the misperception that gaming communities -- and therefore esports fans as a whole -- primarily consist of teenagers in darkened bedrooms and basements.

Still, although conversational martech chat tools aren't as popular as we may have expected, the report clearly found that we can expect the segment to grow fast as relevant technologies continue to evolve and make these systems easier to access and incorporate.

The US historically has been an extremely fragmented market with severe limitations on interstate and even branch banking for much of its history, so customers tend to remain loyal to the thousands of credit unions and local community banks as well as the large regional and national banks that have resulted from consolidation over the past few decades.

The need for consumer data is growing and the fact that these systems have so much of it allows them to build these walls. Marketers who want the best first-party data feel they have no choice but to advertise on these platforms to make the most of their digital campaigns.

Marketers must ensure the mobile-friendly version of their site is therefore up to scratch as Google now considers that platform to be the most important, and it will predominantly use the information gathered there to determine rankings both for mobile and desktop.

As I watch Nike navigate yet another public and heated racism-related debate play out on social media and online (see: Colin Kaepernick-starring campaign that led many angry consumers to burn their Nike apparel), I wonder if such a public response could have been predicted in the first place.

Yet, while marketing leader seem to agree that CDPs are the future that will transform their operations, the technology has far to go before it meets expectations. Indeed, 87% of marketers believe data remains their company's most under-utilized asset. Why are so many CDP projects are failing?

I've heard fellow marketers say that "data is the new currency" more times than I can count in recent years. But what does that even mean? The mantra lacks definition. If data is the new currency, how do I spend it? And what am I even buying with it?

Indeed, the development of sophisticated 'botnets' -- large networks of private computers infected with malicious software that allows fraudsters to control every machine in the system without the owners' knowledge or consent -- has enhanced cyber criminals' ability to deceive ad-selling systems and buyers alike by mimicking actual human clicks on a website.

LinkedIn has a unique position as a niche social media network specifically tailored to professionals, which means that the global roll-out of its live streaming service will nevertheless provide the internet with a new medium for live video.

For too long, opportunities to advertise through video games have been ignored by the marketing world. Finally, it seems change is at hand. As the number of video game players has expanded significantly over the past decade, so, too, the avenues for marketing teams to target gamers.